Jankovic stars in this drama

NEW YORK - On and on the last act ran. It was running wild, should have finished several times... but... no...

On and on.

Neither the woman from China nor the woman from Serbia would let go of it. They played their parts with daring and dash and kept at it fiercely, sure that something good was ahead. So, on and on they went as the sun beat down, and they tried to beat each other to the punch. It was an abnormal act, stretching into the glorious afternoon like an extra-inning ballgame.

But it had to end, and the petite Chinese named Zheng Jie had the last word - a shriek of despair as she struck the concluding ball into the net.

Although generous applause from about 17,000 devotees in Arthur Ashe Stadium rained on both of them, it was the leading lady on the asphalt stage of the US Open, Jelena "Jelly" Jankovic who will stick around for a fourth-round encore after the 7-5, 7-5 victory. Another day, another successful drama for Jelly.

But what is she doing to dear old mom, Snezana, in the first row?

"I know. So much stress. It's tough on her to watch this stuff."

The dutiful daughter, Jankovic doesn't make it easy on her faithful. A Serbian spectator tells me, "She reminds me of Mira Stupica, our greatest actress. Drama is her specialty."

Jankovic's, too, but, rolling her brown eyes, "I wish I didn't have any drama in my matches. I wish I could cruise, win nice and simple."

That, however, doesn't seem to be the destiny of the world's No. 2 tennis player. It's almost always a grim struggle with lots of running, pirouetting, grimacing, some smiling, scrambling out of impossible positions, occasional skyward glances - perhaps to coax divine intervention?

Now she feels secure in the basement, the bottom of the draw. "I don't have anything to do with the top side. It makes no difference until, if I go to the final."

Next up for her, 18-year-old Dane Caroline Wozniacki, a 6-4, 6-4, victor over Victoria Azarenka. But upstairs are the iron: the Sisters Williams and Dinara Safina.

During one long point yesterday - few were short - Jankovic did the splits twice. Did that hurt? "No, it was good. As long as I'm doing the splits that means I'm healthy. When I can't, I know something's wrong, that I'm not sure about my body - if I go into a split who knows if I'll come back up?"

She fell on her face, literally, but kept coming up roses Wednesday in a tight three sets over Sofia Arvidsson, 2 hours 45 minutes. Two years ago she lost a semifinal here in three uproarious sets to Justine Henin, and last year a quarterfinal to Venus Williams in a third-set tiebreaker.

It's ever an adventure for the hustling, often-injured survivor of the Belgrade Belles, hanging in after No. 1 Ana Ivanovic was ding-donged by a French stranger, No. 188 Julie Coin, Thursday.

Ah, but nothing quite like that last act of Jankovic's triumph has been played in her career. It was the 24th game, Jankovic serving, and it twisted through more brambles than "Long Day's Journey into Night."

Zheng, 25, a mite of 5 feet 4 inches, 119 pounds, with twice as much fight as you'd think, surfaced at Wimbledon, a stunning semifinalist with wins over Ivanovic and Serena Williams to name two biggies.

"I know last game, it's last chance," she said with a great smile from here to Beijing, "but I feel today I play not too bad."

Very, very good for No. 37. Very, very close with her low-bounding, often sharply angled groundies - but she couldn't click on her six break points, one of which would have sent them into a tiebreaker.

Thus on and on they raced, making marvelous saves as the little woman in the white eye-shade refused to bend on four match points. It was deuces wild, 11 of them, as the act extended to a 28th point - enough for a set - and into the 18th minute of a duel that consumed 2 hours 9 minutes.

"If you want to beat Zheng, you have to beat her to the end," said Jankovic. "She won't give up." To the very end, the fifth match point, when Zheng swung hard with both hands but watched her backhand find the net. Hundreds of strokes, but no more. On and on . . . and off.

"How many deuces?" Jankovic asked. "Eleven? I wanted 20." Then she laughed. But didn't mean it. It was as close to an endless act that she wants to star in.